Power Balancing Bollocks & Buckethead

I have noticed a recent spate of people on Freecycle getting rid of those humungous TVs that were all the rage 10 or so years ago, meaning that plasma TV shops must have been rubbing their hands with glee over the last few weeks. Can’t think why anyone would want an obsolete, 2nd hand, 600 odd inch TV that takes a crane to install it, requires the floor to be reinforced and monopolises half your living room.

Have you heard the latest health scam? Power Balance Bracelets. They’re £30 plastic wristbands with a hologram stuck on them. According to the company marketing these devices: “Power Balance is based on the idea of optimizing the body’s natural energy flow, similar to concepts behind many Eastern philosophies. The hologram in Power Balance is designed to resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body.”


Right, for something to resonate with something else means that both those somethings must have a frequency. I defy anyone to tell me the natural frequency of the human energy field – whatever the human energy field may be. I also defy anyone to tell me the frequency of a hologram. If neither of these attributes is measurable, how the hell can you ensure they resonate?

The company is very careful to ensure it makes no specific scientific, health or performance improvement claims on the website any more – and that’s because there aren’t any and any possible effect is no more than that of a placebo. The marketing all works on the power of suggestion, leaving your mind to fill the gaps and bask in the halo effect of iconic (and gullible) sportsmen and women, like David Beckham and his ilk (who probably get a nice fat cheque) exhibiting them.

The correct scientific explanation is that these devices work on the same principle as your lucky underpants – your own gullibility and the desire for a quick fix. Quack, quack!

Anyone know why it's illegal to sell spuds by the pound, but draught beer is quite legally sold by the pint in pubs?

And now for some Buckethead:



I love the way this builds in intensity and layers.

Here's a version with higher production values, but not as intense: